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Oh, I'm beyond heart broken, I literally cannot stop crying. I work in a hospital and my panic attack was so bad after being told my surgery was cancelled that I had several nurses, plus a physician all ask me if I was ok or if they could drive me somewhere/take me to the ER. I even got reprimanded by the nurse over the phone for not following instructions, when I asked if I was correct in being on an under 500 calorie diet, with my three 160 calorie protein shakes adding up to 480 calories/day. She refused to let me even speak. When I asked if I could speak for 30 seconds she said no. The instructions I was emailed says "3-5 protein shakes per day depending on the amount of protein per shake." I am using the Premier Protein, which has 30g protein, so since I was told I needed 80g/day I was drinking 3 shakes per day. She lectured me on not following instructions until she looked back in her email that she sent me and realized I was correct. Apparently it was suppose to be 6 shakes per day! This was also part of what got me cancelled, when I asked if I was correct that I should be under 500 calories/day.

I start the morning with 16 oz of water. Then, I have my protein shake. I have lunch, dinner, and at least a couple days of snacks. I purchased a really great recipe book with high protein options. A couple of my favorites are bell pepper nachos and tofu tacos. The biggest help is that I marinate enough for two or three family dinners and freeze the extra. This lets me take a break from planning during the week. My go to snack in a hurry is a Chobani 60 calories yogurt that has 11 grams of protein. I add some Granola and fruit, and this is a very filling and healthy option for me. I still have restriction, and that helps to keep me in check. This week, I am 6 months out and will need to push up my calories and protein intake.

I hope you do not give up on swimming, there are so many different types of swimsuit styles out there. I personally wear a 3-piece, it has a sports bra-like top, then a tank that goes over the top, and a Capri pant for the bottom, I bought some additional swim shorts, but more often than not I wear the Capri pant. I got it from Amazon I would be more than happy to send you the link if or you might be able to use the search terms "three-piece adult swimsuit"

Pain level was 6-10 for the three days but they were always on time with the pain meds. By the time I got home I only used Tylenol because I felt spasm and cramps. That was about it tho.

In answer to your question ........ I was a couch potato before my RNY back in last May last year. Walking past three houses was exhausting. So I rarely walked. So I began walking. Each week/month I went a little further and further. i can now walk 5 k easily. Walking is a great way to start to get fit. Then I started to do a small amount of strength exercises. It only been the last month that I have done cardio. I walk, use a recumbent bike and use limited weights. For me the whole thing is just about getting fitter. I do feel fitter and happier in my body. At my size I am going to have loose skin. How much you exercise will be determined by what you want to achieve and how much you are prepared to do. Losing weight is one thing but in order to keep the weight off exercise will need to be part of your life long journey. I hope it all goes well for you.

I lost 42kg so just a little less than you asked for. I don’t enjoy exercising. Never have. Still don’t. Over the years before surgery I tried lots of things: walking, yoga (one I enjoyed most), aerobics, swimming, cycling, etc. They never helped me lose weight or maintain my weight so I really wasn’t all that surprised when I discovered exercise only contribute to about 10% of any weight you want to lose. Of course there are many other benefits to exercising but don’t rely on it to help with your weight loss. Did I exercise during my weight loss? Nope. I just upped my everyday activities: parked further away from where I was going, walked up & down escalators & travelators, made multiple trips up & down my stairs (why carry groceries up in one trip when you can do it in two or three), etc. I still don’t exercise as such. I exercise snack at home by doing 5-10 minute sessions about 4 times a day of stretching & using resistance bands. I have loose skin (not a lot but enough) but my arms look more toned from using the bands - I just don’t wave my arms about. Too many factors influence how much loose skin you’ll have. Age, genetics, how much weight you lose, how long you were at your higher weight, your weight loss & gain history, etc. You can’t stop it. Your skin has already been stretched. You may get a little snap back if you’re younger & still producing elastin. Think of your lose skin as a well used & over stretched hair band/elastic. Can’t fix that. As to exercising helping with it, your muscles lie under your skin & your skin drapes over the top. You’ll need a lot of muscle to fill your skin out. My thighs would have to be three or more inches larger to fill out my loose skin there but I don’t want large thighs again. Nor do I want a large butt again to fill out the loose skin there. Surgery is your only option if your lose skin bothers you, limits your movements or gets infections, rashes, etc.

My surgeon had me on liquid diet for two weeks then 2 weeks of Puree and the stages three which I’m on now soft diet until October and then regular diet. And I keep look at these incision like ain’t no way they took my stomach out these little wholes I wish they would of woke me up and showed me! I heard it picks up later I can say I lost some hair which is the wrong thing to be loosing . weight loss surgery not hair loss 🤦‍♀️ I paid money to loose hair lol 😂

Night before surgery and today. Three months and 60lbs apart. Ironically, it's the same PJs, but it really shows the difference in the fit. The pants are definitely getting loose now. They were pretty tight before.

I echo the advice to go back to your surgeon for guidance & if you haven’t got one, find a dietician/nutritionalist with experience supporting wls patients. There are differences in plans, your very quick cycle through the return to eating stages as an example. But we ourselves are very different & consequently have different needs. For example I’m shorter, probably older, likely had a different weight loss/gain history, had no comorbidities before surgery & aren’t very active. I wasn’t given calorie goals only portion size: 1/4 - 1/3 cup from purée slowly increasing to about a cup at goal which was 6 months. I remember for months it would take me three days to eat two scrambled eggs. I could eat one egg at 6 months - just the egg nothing else I didn’t have to track calories but I know I was barely consuming 300 in around the soft food stage & was barely eating 900 calories at 6 months. My plan did not allow for any rice, pasta or bread at any stage while losing. Beat advice is to go slowly & be more tentative with your food choices while you are healing (& it does take a few weeks). The staged return to eating we work through is to protect & not strain your healing tummy & support your recovery. Remember all those staples & sutures holding your tummy & digestive system together & all the nerves that have been cut too. All the best with your recovery & weight loss.

Welcome Guru! Welcome to the forum. Sounds like you are recovering pretty well for three days! Well my surgery was July 6th, completely recovered and feeling great. 20 Pounds down so far. Just about the end of the month for the July Surgery buddies. Hope everyone is doing well!

I have osteoporosis. There are bone-building drugs available that do build bones. I was on Reclast for three years - will be starting Forteo in the fall. (I don't know if mine was caused by malabsorption or not - but since I'm in my 60s and osteoporosis runs rampant in my family (all the older female relatives I know of have it), it likely could be that, too.

Today was kind of a bittersweet day. I had my final regular doctors appointment with my surgeon. Every thing has been going really well and he basically told me that I’m free to start eating a normal diet again, but to use common sense. I won’t have another appointment for three months. Between my last appointment and today, I lost 14lbs and he seemed pretty happy with my progress. He told me to expect to lose about 10lbs a month or so for about the next year. I think my next big adventure will be to go low carb and try to drop a little faster while I have this great tool at my disposal.

I didn't have any pain at all I didn't even bother opening the bottle of pain pills they sent me home with. The only thing I had, like someone else said, was tightness in my abdominal muscles. I didn't feel it if I was just lying there - or sitting there - or standing there - but when I was transitioning from one position to another, I could feel it - felt like I'd done a bunch of crunches. pain is really all across the board. Some of us have it, others have little to none. But they'll send you home with something if you do. The pain usually just lasts three or four days if you have it, so you're not likely to need a refill (although I would assume they'd refill it if needed)

It's happening to me too I mean I've been walking three to four miles daily I'm eating drinking and doing everything that I'm supposed to do and it's the same thing I am sitting still but the doctor is like well you're losing interest I understand that but I want to lose weight as well that's the only reason why I went through this traumatic experience Congratulations!!!!@@

Iam 40yr old female and I am 5’7” Starting weight 346. Surgery Weight 290 One month post-op 276 Two months post-op 268 I just hit three months post-op on 20th of July and I am at 257lbs

Like you pointed out, it will get a little better after day three. Your body starts to acclimate to the reduced calories. The bad news is, well, it sucks. There’s no getting around it and it’s one of the harder parts of the journey. I tried to find distractions around the house and tried to stay as busy as possible. Use this time also to rest for your upcoming surgery. Get lots of sleep. Hang in there!

-phone -charger -slippers -extra undies -pajamas (if you don't want to walk around in your gown) -set of clothes for the next day -hairbrush Mine was just an overnight stay. I was not allowed to wear makeup, perfume, or even deodorant before my surgery. But I took all three for when I woke up. I HATE going barefaced or thinking I smell. They gave me a special soap to bathe at home pre-op. I bathed the night before using their soap, and I washed and straightened out my hair. I also put my hair up the next morning and bathed again with their soap before leaving for the hospital. After surgery, I mostly slept through the rest of the evening. The next morning, however, I put on fresh clothes, my deodorant, my perfume, and my makeup. It made me feel more comfortable and secure.

It was at about two months. I had a gin & tonic which I sipped for hours - not kidding. Then it was another couple of months before I had another. I actually sort of lost my taste for it. Four years out & I still don’t drink often - usually a glass about once a month (except last weekend with girlfriends & a wedding - was a glass & a half of champagne each day for three days). A glass or two while you’re away likely won’t hurt. But do check with your team because plans differ. Remember it does slow your metabolism & the effects of the alcohol may be stronger & you may feel the effects more quickly. Track the calories & keep your non alcoholic fluids up.

I’m three years out now, but thanks for the reply. I use straws just fine. They still aren’t sure why I had so much gas immediately post op, but it passed and I'm fine now. But, i did want to say for anyone else newly post op and reading this - gas pumped into your chest cavity during surgery is different than intestinal gas. Walking is the best way to move thst gas out.

I’m three years out now, but thanks for the reply. I use straws just fine. They still aren’t sure why I had so much gas immediately post op, but it passed and I'm fine now. But, i did want to say for anyone else newly post op and reading this - gas pumped into your chest cavity during surgery is different than intestinal gas. Walking is the best way to move thst gas out.

my clinic said to wait for a year - but I waited three years. Just be aware that it's likely to hit you much faster than it did pre-surgery. I really feel the effects after just one glass of wine now.

Actually it’s not that common. It could just be others have not remained active on the forum or as you wondered they haven’t updated their stats. Their profile weight might be their lowest weight & not the weight at which they settled & maintain - there is a difference. The average weight loss is about 65% of the weight you have to lose to put you in a healthy weight range for either bypass & sleeve surgeries which is usually informed by BMI (love it or hate it) at the three year point. But with all stats there there are those who exceed that stat & those who don’t for many reasons. Some we have control over (dietary & activity choices) & many we don’t (medication, gender, age, genetics, health issues, mobility, set point, etc.) But statistically the number who reach their goal will be less & the number who exceed it even lower than those who lose the 65% average. Your goal weight is a weight you picked. It may be based upon BMI. It may be based on a weight you’d been before. Or a weight that seems okay to you. Some even adjust their goal weight as they progress. I call it my head weight or emotional weight. It often is not the weight you end up at. Some find they prefer to be at a higher weight - easier to maintain without limiting or restricting their lifestyle or they feel they look better or are more comfortable at a higher weight. There is also a bounce back regain weight many experience. You can’t really tell what your finally weight will be before your surgery. Some surgeons say they can predict approximately how much weight you may lose at specific points in your weight loss post surgery. I think it may be double the weight you’ve lost at 3 months but I’m sure some one will confirm the actual formula. Though again this is based upon stats & some exceed this & some don’t. And I don’t know if it takes into consideration bounce back regain or settling weight or is just the lowest weight you reach. Would be worth asking your surgeon about it though. The trick is not to get tied to your goal weight. It’s not your body’s new set point weight (the weight your body is happiest at). It can really mess with your head if you don’t reach it or you don’t maintain it. Even when maintaining, allow yourself some realistic fluctuation & wriggle room with your weight. Try & remember it’s just a number on a scale & there are many more important wins to celebrate like your health & well being. I am someone who exceeded my goal (based on the lowest weight I always cycled around in the past) & exceeded the stats (132% lost). Not by anything I did. It’s my body’s new set point & where it happily stabilised. My lowest weight was 48.2kg & then I settled at 48.5-49.5. I gained a couple of kilos because of a medication issue but resettled & stabilised at 49.5-50kg after sorting the issue. I find it pretty easy to maintain & not limiting or restrictive.

I started the Propel today. We'll see how I do tonight. I drank one 16oz bottle of propel and have had three 16oz bottles of water. Maybe I'm just confusing my body by drinking Benefiber, lowering my sodium, then drinking propel, then cutting back on water... I'm trying to find some equilibrium here... it's difficult... but thank you all so much for your help... i truly appreciate it 💛

On the night before I started my pre-op diet, I had three sushi rolls and a Hendricks gin and tonic. Zero regrets. It was delicious.

I disagree with the idea that goal weights aren't important. If having a goal weight motivates you, go for it. I had three goal weights. My first was to get to "overweight" BMI. My second was to get to "healthy" BMI. My final was to get to Ideal Body Weight. I ultimately achieved all three and got down to 146.5. Now, in maintenance, my goal is to stay under 150. So far so good. Having an ambitious goal weight really pushed me during the final months when the weight loss slowed and it would have been easy to back off.